"one mans terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."
this is talking about the fact that terrorism is a political tool. the terrorist sees himself as a freedom fighter attacking an oppressor for his cause while the victim of terrorism see the terrorist as an aggressor often without a valid cause. i agree with this for if there isn't a reason behind the attack it isn't defined as terrorism. the attacks of just some deranged person is not an act of terrorism for terrorism needs a political cause.

"we do no create terrorism by fighting the terrorists. we invite them by ignoring them."
terrorism often occurs because the political movement feels not respected but when people fight back against terrorists the attacks often get worst.



definition of terrorism
The term “terrorism” is so conversional that it doesn’t have an agreed-upon definition among countries, or even the United Nations. However, most governments, scholars and the UN agree that the objective of terrorist organizations is to achieve “social reform and political change”[i] by creating fear within the public. Terrorists may have political (e.g. the Irish Republican Army), ideological (e.g. Animal Liberation Front, Earth Liberation Front) and/or religious (e.g. al-Qaeda, Hezbollah) motivations. They could also be seeking revenge and retaliation on the government. [ii]


[i] Gorman, Fitzalan C. “Non-State Actors, Terrorism and the United Nations.” Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. 13 April 2009. PDF.
[ii] Englehart, Neil and Charles Kurzman. “Welcome to World Peace.” Social Forces. 4 June 2006. PDF.

  • 1793 the creation of modern terrorism
  • 1950's the rise of non-state terrorism
  • 1970's terrorism turns international
  • 1990's religious terrorism and beyond
http://terrorism.about.com/od/whatisterroris1/p/Terrorism.htm